Before and After the In-Between
by NotAnIslander
Summary: Katniss and Peeta's son reflects on their family. Special thanks to Lionheart Rising for Beta-ing and as a contributing editor.
1. Chapter 1 Before and After

Before and After the In-Between

I see her sitting on the rock ledge, at their meeting place. She told me one time when I was younger, that this was the place she and her best friend would meet up when they went hunting. But that was before.

My mother's life is divided neatly into 2 sections. Before and after. Her life before consisted of her mother, her sister, and struggling to survive after the death of her father. It consisted of illegal hunting and trading. Keeping one step ahead of the authorities, knowing who to trust and who to avoid. Knowing who would give the best trade on the black market, and who to trade with because you wanted them on your side rather than not.

Then there was her life after. My dad, the bakery, Haymitch, Buttercup, my sister and myself. No one is struggling to survive now. We have plenty of food. We definitely have plenty of love and laughter. But we have our own struggles. Days when mother can't seem to focus, seems out of sorts. Times when father has to grip the side of a table or some chairs. Haymitch…

But it's always been the in-between time that I wonder about. My sister and I grew up hearing about The Hunger Games, The Rebellion, The Mockingjay. We knew these were important to our family and our story. Mother and Father told us about their parts, they showed us the Book. Sometimes people would stop by our house or they called on the phone. Mother and Father were always polite (well, Father was), but they never spoke long, and always said, "Thanks. Sorry. Have a good day."

Even though I knew all about this stuff, I didn't _know it._ Not until today.

Today was the day all of the children in the country, who are aged 12, go to school for a special assembly. Today was the day I saw my family story told in a different way. Told from someone else's perspective. Today was the day I understood who my mother and father really were.

My mother, who seems so aloof and separate from others. My father, with his people pleasing skills. These all started to make sense. I saw my parents as terrified teenagers fighting for each others' lives. I saw them willing to sacrifice themselves for each other. I saw my mother, a leader of the rebellion, "If We Burn, You Burn With Us!" I saw my mother's passion as an outsider would. And I realized my father has always been right. She doesn't know the effect she can have.

I saw my father pleading for a ceasefire. I saw him beaten and bruised. For the first time, I heard from another person about the torture The Capitol put him through. And I know how he struggles to continue to have victory over Snow.

Every family has a story. Each generation adds something to the story to continue it. I have always known my parents story. But now I understand the meaning to their story. And I now understand that my sister and I aren't merely addendums to my parents story. We are the moral to their story. We are the proof that life can go on, that it can be good again.

My mother sits at our meeting place. My mother, so quiet and aloof from others. She is still The Mockingjay. She is still The Girl On Fire. But she is more, so much more than that.

I am the son of the Mockingjay. I am the proud son of the Mockingjay, and her Boy With The Bread.


	2. Chapter 2 Grandmother Passed Away

Grandmother passed away.

When we came home from school, we knew there was something not right. Father was in the kitchen making cheese buns. We would soon find out why he was home instead of at the bakery. On the table was a letter from Annie Odair:

Dear Peeta and Katniss,

I am sorry to write this to you, but your mother passed away last night. She had been ill for some time. We buried her in the Odair family plot. I will be sending a box with her belongings in it.

Take care, and sorry for your loss.

Annie

Grandmother Everdeen was an interesting woman. She and mother spoke on the phone weekly. She always wrote us, and remembered us on our birthdays, and sent us presents and trinkets at different times through the years. We would draw her pictures when we were younger, write her back as we got older, but we'd really only seen her once or twice. She didn't like coming to District 12, and we never travelled to District 4 to see her (actually, we've never travelled anywhere). She and mother had a tense relationship. I'm sure it goes back to Before, when her father died. But also After, when Grandmother chose to go to District 4 instead of come back to 12 to be with Mother. I can't imagine Mother leaving either my sister or me to fend for ourselves, even with someone like Haymitch to be there for us. Or, maybe I should say especially with someone like Haymitch. But that's what Grandmother did, and that stood in between Mother and Grandmother always.

When we came home, and saw father in the kitchen, we knew mother would be upstairs. I don't know if she was upset about her mother's death, really, or if it was just one more loss she had to bear. One more person who "used to be."

Isn't it funny how someone who seems barely relevant to your daily life can suddenly make everything different? Father home from the bakery in the middle of the day. Mother, upstairs and in bed, silent in her grief. My sister and I left to think about what has happened and if there was anything we could do to make it better.

We went to the woods and found them there. We dug up 2 primrose bushes, just like the others that bloom by the side of the house. We weren't sure if what we were doing would help or not, but it was all we could think of.

As we dug the holes to put the bushes in, the front door opened, and there stood mother, tears in her eyes, but a small smile on her face. She came over and held us. A silent thank you. And then we knew. It was all good.


	3. Chapter 3 Star Crossed Lovers

Mother is furious.

My sister is mortified.

And father? Father thinks it's hilarious.

Me? I'm just sitting back and watching it all happen.

My sister had some friends over from school. They were doing what girls do, I suppose, sitting in her room talking and laughing. After they left, and my sister went to help Father out at the bakery. Mother went into her room to see if there was any dirty laundry left behind.

And that's when she saw it.

Apparently one of my sister's friends left a book.

"**The Star Crossed Lovers of District 12: Passion in the Pit of Despair!"**

It's the first in a series.

"What the…?! I can't believe this! Wait until I get a hold of Plutarch. Damn it! They can't do this, can they? Shit. I will kill him! I swear I. Will. Kill. Him. If he ever steps foot in this district I will fire an arrow into his ass before he can even say Star Crossed Lovers. What the Hell is this? Shit. **Where is my daughter?**"

And that's when she and Father walked in the door.

"Mother! What are you doing in my room! Haven't you ever heard of _privacy_? You had no right. **No right **to go in there without telling me!"

"Excuse me? Whose house do you think this is little girl? Whose **hard won **house is this? It's your father's and mine. Please explain this book to me. NOW."

"Wren and her family were in the Capitol. I guess these books are all the rage there. She thought I might enjoy it. It's nothing Mother, really, it's nothing!"

"Nothing? Nothing? They have taken a horrible thing that happened to your father and I and are using it for…for…THIS!?"

"Katniss, calm down. Really how bad can it be? It was a long time ago. At least they don't call us the Crazy Brainwashed Lethal Lovers of District 12 anymore!"

"Peeta. You are not helping."

"Here, let me see it.

"_Katniss' raven hair gleamed in the light of their small campfire, flowing in glossy waves over her heaving bosom, glistening with sweat. Peeta, leaning back against the cool cave wall, held_ _her thighs with the same gentle firmness with which he kneaded bread. She leaned forward with parted lips – "_

And that's when my sister finally gets it. It's not just a book. It's a book about _Mother and Father and __**…THAT!**_

Which leads us to where we are now:

Mother is furious.

My sister is mortified.

And Father thinks it's hilarious.

Me? I'm now looking at my parents in a whole different light.

"Hey look! There's more! _The Star Crossed Lovers of District 12: Coitus in the Quarter Quell_

_The Star Crossed Lovers of District 12: Reveling in Rebellion_

_The Star Crossed Lovers of District 12: Reuniting in the Reconstruction._

"Do you think Plutarch will arrange for us to get a cut of the profits?" I ask.

Now I have a bump on my head from where Mother hit me with the book…


End file.
